EDPEN 11

Chapter 11.

What was surprising wasn’t just that.

“Hey, did you copy the chancellor’s magic too?”

Why the hell would I copy something like that?

I might talk like this, but was “special-grade hero” a kid’s name or what? Copying things recklessly without a plan would get me caught for sure.

“Really? Then why is it stored in your body? If you analyze it, you could probably use it.”

Stored?

“Yeah. If you use that, you could even get your house back.”

But Ruin tilted his head, clearly confused.
What kind of phenomenon was this?

If I had to guess, it’d be that ‘Ruins Wayne’ I swallowed recently…

He needed to confirm what was really going on. Ruin immediately activated his ability—the one that had evolved thanks to the hero.

【Shadow King’s Vision】 (Racial Innate Skill)

Allows him to see all information—abilities, traits, biology, structure, composition, and more—of all targets for copying.
Before evolution, as 【Resident’s Vision】, this only worked on targets of equal or lower rank, but it had been upgraded to “all targets.”

Yet what he saw when he looked into Wayne’s traits was unexpected.

• 【God’s Right Hand】

• 【Innate Laziness】

• 【Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder】

• 【Everyone But Me Can Die】

• 【Ironclad Pride】

• 【An Obsession Only I Enjoy】

• 【Incomprehensible Genius】

“Traits” were essentially a person’s personality. Depending on these traits, unique blessings or magic would manifest.

But the problem was—

…Is this a trait window or a minefield?

Every single one of them was disastrously awful.
Still, there was at least one redeeming grace—only one, but it was usable.

【God’s Right Hand】
Seals all harm that comes to me.

Seals it?

Ruin looked down at his arm. Come to think of it, there were two unfamiliar patterns engraved around his wrist.

What is this?

The moment Ruin touched one of them, something astonishing happened.

Flash!

It felt as if a new field of vision opened in his mind, and a spell formula unfolded.

Shadow race trait activated.

Put simply, it was like touching a ship in the harbor and having its blueprints unfold in your head. “Copying” required knowing the target’s information first.
Thanks to this, Ruin could naturally identify confidential details or avoid traps.

And now, the spell unfolding in his mind was no different. Spell formulas were normally encrypted like patented manufacturing methods and kept secret, but—

For Ruin, well…

This is the chancellor’s ability.

Being used to disarming traps as part of his job, Ruin quickly grasped the nature of the magic.
Some kind of flame-based spell… and with this level of formula, it had to be that magic that incinerated demons.

He wondered why something like this had remained in his body, but he soon understood.

【God’s Right Hand】
Seals all harm that comes to me.

Seals all harm…

So because the chancellor’s ability was harmful to “me,” it got sealed.

In simple terms, that execution flame had been sealed into his arm.

If I could actually use it, it’d be insane.

It was a special-grade spell, after all—the chancellor’s ability.
Ruin’s eyes narrowed.

Then what about the other one?

If this one was special-grade, just how monstrous was whatever had been sealed in the other?

The moment Ruin, inwardly salivating, lightly touched the second pattern—

…?!

It felt like he dropped ten floors straight down.

Damn it. A mine.

“Vassal!”

The Shadow God’s voice faded into the distance. The taste of blood filled his mouth.
Only then did Ruin realize what the second sealed magic was.

The Curse of Misfortune.

A power no one had ever identified or deciphered. There was a reason he’d contracted with a Demon Lord— even that Demon Lord could only block part of the curse. It was that high-level.

Ruin immediately pulled his hand away. The Shadow God was beside himself.

“…Vassal! Are you okay? Huh?”
“I’m fine.”
“You worried me.”

Haha. Worrying about me—only god I’ve got, huh…

“If you die, who’s going to offer me tributes?”

Ruin almost shoved the ginseng back into the toilet.

“Aah! Hey! I’m joking! I’m your superior, you punk!”

Who cares. Go die.
Anyway, to sum it up, both the chancellor’s magic and the Curse of Misfortune had been sealed.

The curse was harm inflicted on Wayne too, so it got sealed.

“Misfortune infusion” was a power that brought bad luck to both himself and others at the same time.
But what if the misfortune coming to me didn’t occur?

Ruin’s eyes gleamed.

Wouldn’t that mean I can use the misfortune ability more often than before?

In other words, he could even contend with the hero’s insane luck!

Taking that the wrong way, the ginseng superior snapped at him.

“Hmph. It’s fine to go up against the hero, but if you keep using another god’s power like that, I’ll excommunicate you! Got it?”

Ruin, however, was lost in thought, as if he couldn’t hear a thing.

This is worth researching.

The ginseng grumbled at him.

“Can’t you hear me? If you choose misfortune, I’ll sulk, you know? Then you won’t be able to offer tributes to this great being!”
“……”
“…I mean, I won’t be able to boss you around anymore?!”

Isn’t that a good thing?

Whatever expression he made—

“…V-vassal? You’re not choosing misfortune, right?”

Ruin set his superior on top of the toilet and walked out of the bathroom. As the door shut mercilessly behind him, the ginseng superior’s face went pale.

“…Vassal! I won’t excommunicate you! Don’t abandon me!”

The ginseng wore the expression of someone whose world had ended.

“Leaving your racial god behind in a bathroom…”
Didn’t I say I just forgot?
“Forgot for thirty minutes?! And use my power, not some other god’s! Why won’t you use mine?!”
I do use it.
“Then why not more aggressively?! You always use it in tiny bits! And yet you still survive—why?!”

Why indeed. Because you keep offering immortality in exchange for power. I already feel like a grad student being exploited by a professor.

Like I’d let myself be used for life.

Besides—

When that god gets jealous, he secretly hands out more power.

Anyway, at this rate, even the hero’s insane luck was something he could handle.

Then I can take back that bastard’s so-called private property too!

Ruin’s golden eyes shone viciously.
Still, there was one thing that bothered him.

He rolled up his sleeve slightly. On his wrist was the pattern sealing harm. Interestingly, it looked just like the “Keeping” magic sigil used by Union mages.
Keeping stored magic in advance and let you use it without chanting, and Ruin had only ever seen one Union mage who applied it to their own body.

And coincidentally, it’s in the same spot.

Given how absurdly powerful this ability was, it was strange.

Then why did the real Ruins Wayne end up looking like that?

Despite having the ability to seal all harm?

Honestly, out of everyone I’ve swallowed so far, he seems the most useful.

“If you’re praising him that much, isn’t he hero-class?”

Well, the reason he couldn’t use his abilities properly could be investigated later.

What matters now is getting assigned a professor’s lab.

That way, he could use the entrance in the faculty research building to go look for the vault.

Just as Ruin headed toward the administration office to get a lab assigned, he overheard the teaching assistants talking.

“Ruin(s) Wayne, right?”

It sounded like they were talking about him.

“The self-defense professor got taken down by him? For real?”
“Must’ve let his guard down. But why did Professor Charlie and the others go nuts during someone else’s interview?”
“Who knows. The newbie came in through the main gate and caused an uproar. Probably because of that.”

The main gate. Come to think of it, the professors had been unusually fixated on it. Was there a reason?

“They think their positions are going to get taken. It’s almost evaluation season.”

Yeah. That I could understand. Coworkers were always promotion rivals.

“Huh? Suddenly? Wasn’t Professor Wayne just hired to teach general education classes? As an excuse tied to the Wayne family?”

Damn. Ruins Wayne must’ve had big dreams—turns out there was a sad backstory. Poor guy.
But whether it was a gen-ed class or whatever, I didn’t care. I just needed my severance pay and I’d be out—

“Right. And the class he was assigned is about to be canceled anyway. He doesn’t even get a lab, does he?”

At that, Ruin screamed internally.

No professor’s lab?! Why?!

I’m acting like a complete bastard on purpose for that, and now this?!

“He’s a non-tenured adjunct, right?”

Damn it! If he was non-tenured, that made sense!

Still fine.

Haven was a school on a mountain. According to his research, there were “lodging rooms” even non-tenured staff could use—

“Too bad. A spy who came in recently planted mines in the lodging rooms non-tenured staff could use, so they’re off-limits now.”

You damned Pride bastard! Should I just kill him?!

“Ah, but that professor did pass through the main gate, right? So by the rules, he gets paid the toll. If you calculate that, it’s worth over a decade of a full professor’s salary.”
“Yeah. I heard that even without a lab, they’re treating him pretty well—since he passed the main gate.”
“Huh? Then isn’t that actually better? Being tenured is brutal.”
“Exactly. If it were me, I’d take that money and work less as an adjunct. That Professor Wayne really lucked out.”

No! I’ll take brutal! Please give me a tenured position!